Page 82 of Very Special Forces

Chapter Nineteen

Tenminutes later, I was on the sidewalk outside Jas and Julia'sbuilding. There was nothing else I could do and I'd already assuredJas of the same. With the police in the apartment, and Juliarefusing there was an issue, we were at a crossroads. Jas opted tostay at her apartment in case another fight broke out, or thepolice officers knocked on her door, but except for brieflyexplaining the real story about what happened at Bryce's office, Ididn't have much else to tell her. All I could think about was theconversation I had with Lily. It was one thing for Bryce to spoutthose lies so easily, but the evidence I needed to provide forJulia to show him as the man he truly was would have to be morecompelling.

I pulledthe napkin from my pocket and looked at Jessica's address. If Ineeded persuasive evidence, I had one last shot to getit.

Hoppinginto my car, I drove directly to Jessica's apartment. It was nearlyfive, so there was a small chance Jessica would finish work soonand be on her way home. If she was home, great. If not, I wouldstake out her apartment for as long as I could before I had to joinSolomon's detail. If I couldn't speak to her today, I would have toreturn early tomorrow and catch her before work.

Short ofnabbing Bryce in a honey-trap, and I was sure he would be extracareful for the next few weeks, and there wasn't much else I coulddo. I was pretty sure Bryce wouldn't fall for the pretty girl ruseanyway. It was sheer lack of foresight that meant I hadn't thoughtto record my ill-fated meeting with him.

Jessica's building was significantly higher end than thebuilding I just left. Planters with fresh green foliage and asmall, gold-edged canopy framed the glass door and the name plateswere polished brass. I hit number four and waited.

"Yes?"came the voice through the speaker.

"JessicaCollea?" I asked, reading from the napkin Faye gave me.

"This isshe."

"My nameis Lexi Graves, I'm a private investigator with the SolomonDetective Agency. Can I come up and ask you some questions?" Iinquired. Often it was best not to be so honest in case no onewanted to speak with me, but Jessica was a lawyer and Faye hadprobably already called her so I thought the direct method wouldwork better. Plus, I didn't have a lot of time to come up with aruse.

"Regarding?"

"I'vebeen retained by a friend of a lady who is engaged to BryceMaynard," I said and waited. I didn't miss the sharp intake ofbreath that was audible over the speaker.

"Ithought he was done harassing me. I don't want anymore to do withhim," she said, an edge of anger seeping into her voice.

"I'm not here because of him, moreabouthim. My client is worried abouther friend and I thought you might be able to help."

"I don'tsee how. No one would believe me anyway."

"Iwould," I said.

Iwaited, wondering if she would ignore me. Then the buzzer soundedand the door clicked so I took that as my cue to enter. Ignoringthe small elevator, I jogged up the stairs and stepped onto acarpeted hallway with the walls painted in a soft blue. Picturewindows at both ends allowed plenty of light. Two apartmentsoccupied this floor and Jessica had the rear one. She was waitingfor me at the door, a roll of brown tape in her hand, but thatwasn't what surprised me. Instead, I couldn't help zeroing in onher heavily pregnant belly. "Thanks for seeing me," I said,offering her my hand. She shook it firmly and stood back to let meenter.

"I'm notsure what good it will do," she said, shaking out her dark brownshoulder- length hair.

"You'removing?" I asked, as we walked past several card boxes and into aspacious living room.

"I am.I'm taking maternity leave and I'm using the time to transfer to myemployer's Detroit office. My family lives there," she explained."They'll be able to help with the baby."

"Doesyour husband have family there too?"

"It'sjust the two of us," said Jessica, patting her bump. She stoppedand looked at me with a surprised expression. "You don't know, doyou?"

"Knowwhat?"

"This isBryce's baby."

Istopped, shocked. "His baby?"

"Yes, it is, no matter what he says to the contrary. I knowhe's told everyone I cheated and I'm trying to pin it on him, butthisishis baby.As it happens, he's done me a favor by refusing to acknowledge it.I can leave the state without him causing a fuss about custodyrights."

"I hadno idea."

"Well,he is everyone's favorite guy, isn't he? Why would everyone'sfavorite guy abandon his pregnant girlfriend?" She held up a hand,not that I had an answer. "Let me tell you. It's because he's anasshole. I got tired of his crap but I tried to make it work,especially since we were pregnant but then I couldn't do itanymore. He screamed at me to get an abortion because a baby wouldcramp his style and I needed to think about his future. Shame hedidn't think of that when he wouldn't wrap it up, if you know whatI mean?"

Inodded, still stunned.

Jessicasighed and dropped onto the cream leather couch. "When I wanted tokeep the baby, he laid into me, saying I must have cheated anyway.I went ballistic. I screamed at him. I threw a glass cup! He madeout I was a psycho who was abusing him! That's how he gets us, yousee?"

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